media release

SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN – Saginaw Intermediate School District, in partnership with the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce, Dale Carnegie Training, and Partnershift, is pleased to announce the selection of the fifth cohort of Saginaw County Youth Ambassadors. This distinguished group of incoming high school sophomores throughout Saginaw County have earned the opportunity to learn and develop sought-after leadership skills through a unique, three-year, comprehensive program designed to prepare them for promoting community services and the many benefits of living in Saginaw County.

As part of this program, each Youth Ambassador will receive a $1,795 scholarship to participate in a three-day Dale Carnegie Teen Program. The Dale Carnegie Program equips students with the professional skills necessary to lead within their community while catalyzing leadership development. Throughout the three-year cohort experience, Ambassadors will engage in a series of self-awareness workshops focused on identifying their individual strengths, along with planned immersive experiences to provide a contextual comprehension of Saginaw County’s richly diverse community. Further, local leaders will mentor Ambassadors by assisting them in enriching their deeper understanding of Saginaw County’s resources and history. Through meaningful community involvement, these interactive experiences will help ensure that student Youth Ambassadors are well prepared to promote the benefits of living, working, and playing in Saginaw County to their peers, family, neighbors, and visitors.

The growth opportunities and skill development obtained by the Ambassadors during the first two years of the program led to an active leadership role in representing youth across Saginaw County during their senior year of high school. The program intends to usher in and train a new cohort of exceptional student leaders annually and perpetually invest in the next generation of community leaders. The distinguished students selected to represent the Saginaw County Youth Ambassadors fifth cohort are as follows:

AMBASSADOR NAME

SCHOOL DISTRICT

Ava

Shomaker

Birch Run Area Schools

Jeahna

Schmidt

Birch Run Area Schools

London

Williams

Bridgeport-Spaulding Community School District

Madison

Breamsy

Bridgeport-Spaulding Community School District

Torriyae

Thompson

Carrollton Public Schools

Savannah

Stamey

Carrollton Public Schools

Gavin

Moore

Chesaning Union Schools

Audrey

Gillman

Chesaning Union Schools

Lucy

Conzelmann

Frankenmuth School District

Maia

Bierlein

Frankenmuth School District

Georgia

Henning

Freeland Community School District

Brady

VanDaele

Freeland Community School District

Grady

Galbraith

Hemlock Public School District

Lindsey

Tausch

Hemlock Public School District

Gabriel

Collier

Saginaw Township Community Schools

Noah

Wheatcraft

Saginaw Township Community Schools

Joseph

O’Dell

Merrill Community Schools

Hudson

Hedrich

Merrill Community Schools

Dominique

Cook

School District of the City of Saginaw

Jayda

Washington

School District of the City of Saginaw

Brennan

Dunn

School District of the City of Saginaw

Riley

Skiles

St. Charles Community Schools

Kylie

Fiting

St. Charles Community Schools

Lilyana

Johnson

Swan Valley School District

Matilda

Weyand

Swan Valley School District

Funding for this program is made possible through the Marshall Plan for Talent Grant Award that Saginaw Intermediate School District received as the convener of the M-46 Talent Consortium in December 2018. For more information, please contact Jenny Geno at jgeno@sisd.cc, Tina Bacigalupo at tbacigalupo@sisd.cc, or the cohort five coach Dennis Barlow at dbarlow@sisd.cc

ABOUT SAGINAW INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) is an educational service agency that provides effective and innovative leadership, services, resources, and programs throughout Saginaw County. Saginaw ISD provides career and technical education, early childhood, finance, human resources, instruction, pupil accounting, special education, technology, and transportation services. In addition, Saginaw ISD operates multiple educational programs to meet the unique needs of students ages birth to 26 across Saginaw County, including: Hartley Outdoor Education Center, Head Start/Early Head Start and Great Start to Readiness Programs, Great Lakes Bay Early College, Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center School, and Special Education Center Programs. 

Saginaw ISD serves 12 local school districts, five public school academies, and 22 non-public schools, with a total enrollment of approximately 26,000 students. Public school districts supported include: Birch Run Area Schools, Bridgeport-Spaulding Community School District, Carrollton Public Schools, Chesaning Union Schools, Frankenmuth School District, Freeland Community School District, Hemlock Public School District, Merrill Community Schools, Saginaw Public School District, Saginaw Township Community Schools, St. Charles Community Schools, and Swan Valley School District.

MEDIA CONTACT 

Coty Kuschinsky - Saginaw ISD Chief of Staff and Communications Supervisor

ckuschinsky@sisd.cc